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Monday, July 13, 2015

Static Thoughts - 15 Non-Comic Star Trek Crossovers

Earlier this week I posted a list of comic book properties I
thought Star Trek should crossover
with next.While making that list
I started thinking about other things Trek should crossover with, a not
uncommon occurrence given my status as an avid Trek-cionado.So I came up with another 15 non-comic
book properties that Star Trek should
crossover with next now that it’s already crossed into Planet of the Apes, Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, G.I. Joe, and Transformers.Let us list them.

15.STAR WARS

Saying
that Star Wars and Star Trek should crossover is a lot like
saying humans should drink water to survive, it’s basically an undisputed
fact.For better or for worse Star Wars and Star Trek are THE dominant forces in space based science fiction,
the fact that they’ve gone nearly 30 years without any official crossover is
honestly shocking.I think the
best crossover point would either be The
Next Generation or Deep Space Nine
simply because those are the best two situations to view a meaningful interaction
between the United Federation of Planets and the Galactic Empire.

14.TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

With
the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Batman
crossover just announced it seems people only really see the Turtles as urban
level vigilantes.People tend to
forget that there’s a whole part of the Turtles mythos dedicated to crazy space
opera antics or rather dimensional antics.I’m referring of course to Krang and Dimension X, a whole
universe of weirdly cheesy, toyettic, and endearing ‘80s space opera ideas
filtered through molded plastic and ball joints.A lot of these ideas end up pretty similar in tone to the
kind of out there wackiness you might find the original series or Voyager.Krang himself could make for a great Trek villain,
especially given the franchise’s predilection for Cyborg foes like the
Borg.

13.THE MATRIX

The Matrix is such a bizarre cultural
touchstone I’ll have to delve into it further somewhere down the line but for
now I’ll say that I’ve always found The
Matrix’ extended universe material to be far superior to its main
content.Stuff like The Matrix Comics or The Animatrix, though goofily named, are
actually really excellent plays on the concept.It just seems that The
Matrix works better as pure concepts for unique creatives to explore on
their own and Star Trek is a great
testing ground for that.A lot of
this comes from how much Star Trek is
compatible with The Matrix thanks to
things like the Holodeck and the Borg along with robotic and programmed
characters like Nomad, Data, Lore, and the Holo-Doctor.

12.PLEASANTVILLE

Pleasantville was a late ‘90s high
concept meta-comedy in which Toby MaGuire and Reese Witherspoon got sucked into
the fictional TV show of Pleasantville.The idea of being sucked into media is hardly new to Star Trek, there’s a whole Voyager episode about being trapped in a
pulp scifi film strip adventure, so the world of Pleasantville isn’t exactly
new territory.What would make
Pleasantville a unique local for a Trek crew is the inherent rules that govern
that world as both a television show and an idealization of the 1950s.Star
Trek has always thrived when thrown into eras of the past like Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home so taking
such a premise and magnifying it X10 with the added unreality of Pleasantville
has a lot of potential.

11.BEETLEJUICE

Beetlejuice
might seem like an odd choice because from first glance his franchise is
predicated on the kind of supernatural mysticism Star Trek so tirelessly evaded.The thing is that Star
Trek was never really that free from cosmic weirdness, it just framed it in
a different light, usually about the nature of physical laws and thought like
with The Traveler in Next Generation
or The Prophets in Deep Space 9.In the case of Beetlejuice the whole film gives a creator license to explore the
myriad realms of the dead and all they entail.There’s a ton of potential there and it’s hardly new ground
for Trek given Spock’s history of resurrection.What’s more Beetlejuice himself fits perfectly into the
omnipotent man-child trope that informed a ton of Original Series antagonists
and the famous Next Generation
villain Q.

10.EVENT HORIZON

Event
Horizon as a concept is already thoroughly in tune with a lot of Star Trek ideas.The concept of using artificial
singularities for space was a common theme throughout Star Trek: Voyager and the idea of divinity hiding in gravitational
anomalies is a core concept for Deep
Space 9.What really sells Event Horizon as a choice over Hellraiser or The Black Hole is the way it emphasizes personal fear bleeding into
our reality.It’s a stupendous
core concept for blending psychological thrills with high concept paranormal
space horror and works really well for a broad established cast of
characters.It’s a super way to
delve into the minds and workings of a the kind of large crews that pepper all
of Star Trek history.

9.PROMETHEUS

I
realize Prometheus has a bit of
reputation now but say what you will- I still enjoy it.What’s more I think the central premise
about the origins of human life not only resting with alien creators but also
being regarded as a major misstep by those creators is fertile ground for a lot
of imaginative possibilities.Applying
the same idea to any of the Star Trek
races could make for a really interesting story especially given The Next Generation episode ‘The Chase’
already has quite a few similarities to Prometheus.Trek’s greatest strength has always
been in its characters, creating a crew of engaging astronauts that could move
freely from space stories of varying genre like first contact, invasion,
horror, or even comedy.I honestly
think this idea could work really well on Star
Trek: Enterprise given that series emphasis on origins.

8.THE RUNNING MAN

If
you’ve ever watched Star Trek the
original series then you know one of the show loved to contrive scenarios to
result in gladiatorial combat.Even one of TOS’ most famous episodes, ‘Arena’ the story that introduced
the Gorn, is set-up in that manner.There are a lot of good options for high tech gladiator battles but Running Man makes the most sense to me
given the emphasis on colorful murderers roaming around the track in addition
to the actual contestants.Additionally the emphasis on blending high concept weirdness with shiny,
flashy pop culture mass appeal like Wrestling and game shows is kind of a
perfect amalgam of what the original series did back in the dy.

7.ROBOT JOX

Robot Jox is another high scifi
gladiatorial combat situation only this time with a little more weight behind
the situation than Running Man’s
‘gladiators as execution.’In Robot Jox nations work out their
disputes over territory and resources by having 2 giant robots beat each other
up.It’s actually a well made
movie and worth checking out, sort of the Pacific
Rim of its day, but it’d also be a superb source for a sort of Star Trek mash-up.The idea of the Federation throwing
down with the Klingons or the Dominion over territory by building a giant robot
version of the Enterprise piloted by Star Fleets best fighters would be an
amazing story.Additionally it’s
great territory for exploring character traits under the pressure of this kind
of combative diplomacy.

6.CUBE

Cube is a Canadian techno-horror film
about a mysterious maze of interlocking cube rooms all fitted with deadly
traps.The film’s simple nature
keeps the focus on character interaction and ingenuity, which makes it the
perfect conceptual set-up for a Star Trek
story.Additionally the deeper
thematic focus of Cube is on the futility
of conspiracy and the nature of mysteries in general which would make it an
excellent fit for Deep Space 9 and
reoccurring villain Luther Sloane of Section 31.There’s really not much else behind this reasoning, Star Trek has always made great use of
lateral thinking and obstacle course storytelling and Cube is about the most extreme example of those ideas you can
get.It’d also be pretty neat to
see if you could tie the concept into the Borg cubes somehow.

5.THE X-FILES

The X-Files might seem like a strange
choice given everything about it is contemporarily based and not even in the
extra-dimensional way Pleasantville
is but I still think there’s a lot of potential there.Specifically I think it’d be great to
see a crossover between The X-Files
and Star Trek: Enetrprise.For those of you haven’t seen Enterprise the series always had a big
theme of conspiracies and secret wars, which would honestly make it a perfect
fit for The X-Files.What’s more Enterprise is the only Trek show where it still feels like most of
the universe is an unmapped mystery, even more so than Voyager.Captain
Archer’s quest to meet and chart new life isn’t that far removed from Fox
Mulder’s and given that Enterprise
already has time travel and altered history built into its framework it’d be a
pretty easy match to make.

4.BLACKSTAR

Blackstar is a fairly obscure animated
series from Filmation that aired in the early ‘80s.The show didn’t really take off though a lot of the designs
and artwork were used later on in Filmation’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.The basic pitch was about an Astronaut named John Blackstar
who was sucked through a blackhole and dropped onto a mystical new world of
swords, sorcery, and science.Blackstar was a pretty cool show in the
kind of sword and planet, science fantasy vein.That kind of old school scifi tract would make for an
interesting meeting point with more modern Trek iterations like Next Generation or Voyager.Most of all
though I’d like to see a crossover between Blackstar
and Star Trek the animated series as
they were both made by Filmation.

3.TRON

Tron is one of those unique properties
where the visuals design of the series has ultimately supplanted the deeper
conceptual meaning meant to be imbued in the narrative.Stuff like sentient spreadsheet
programs or needing to drink power to survive have been pretty well left behind
by the series and the emphasis now is just on the vey unique visual palette.As with a few similar entries on the
comic list Tron’s loose narrative and
conceptual constraints would make it a perfect pairing partner for the rebooted
Star Trek series.It certainly works visually as the
sleek and flashy designs of Tron Legacy
and Tron Uprising would fit perfectly
into the slim and shiny designs of Abrams’ Star
Trek.

2.THE TWILIGHT ZONE

If
Star Trek saw humanity at its best The Twilight Zone saw us at our worst,
despite the fact that Rod Serling and Gene Rodenberry were actually creative
colleagues.The two shows make for
a lot of polar opposites but in that dichotomy you can find tons of ideas for
stories.Most of all The Twilight Zone seems to work as a
world of ironic weirdness that’s always linked to character creating the
perfect overlap zone between both series focus.Any Trek show could work well for this crossover but most of
all I think the original series or Voyager
would be the best choices, especially considering that both Leonard Nimoy and
William Shatner appeared on the original Twilight
Zone multiple times.

1.METROID

I
realize it’s a bit of a cheat to put a video game on here but Metroid is just
too perfect a crossover to pass up.Specifically I’d like to see a crossover between Metroid and Star Trek: Voyager.Voyager and Metroid both are great
sources for strong women in scifi from the steely to the point of being
unhinged Captain Janeway to the incredibly stoic and profession 7 of 9 to the
inconquerable bad ass that is Samus Aryn.What’s more the supreme weirdness of Metroid
that helps separate the series from the likes of Alien would fit well into the Star
Trek canon, especially given Voyager’s leanings of exploring the nature of
life and human interactions on a stage the size of the cosmos.